How to Download and Upload Grant Applications on Grants.gov

If you’re hoping to score a grant, you will need to be familiar with Grants.gov. All the federal grant application forms you need are available through the Grants.gov website. These easy steps help find and submit an application:

Download your grant application package.

To download this package, log on to the Grants.gov homepage and click the APPLICANTS tab. At the Apply for Grants link, you need the FON or the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number to download your grant application package.

A lot of the documents uploaded for your grant application package must be in Adobe PDF format, so verify that your Adobe software version is compatible with Grants.gov.

Four sets of instructions are available to assist you when completing an application package:

Agency instructions: These agency-specific application package instructions must be downloaded separately from the application package.

Application package cover sheet instructions: These additional instructions provide information on how to complete application package forms. They’re located on the cover sheet of the application package.

Application package instructions: These directions are located at the bottom of the application package and provide information about filling out the application.

Field-level instructions: These instructions are available by selecting the field-level help button, and they provide specific information about each field on the application.

Complete the online application package forms.

Save changes to your application as you go; Grants.gov does not automatically save changes. Also, make sure you fill out the forms in their entirety. You can’t submit your application package until all required fields are complete.

After you enter all the necessary information online and add all your mandatory narrative and attachment documents, check the package for errors, save your package, and click the Save & Submit button on the cover page. Doing so automatically uploads your application package to Grants.gov. If you aren’t already connected to the Internet, you’ll be directed to do so and to log in to Grants.gov with your username and password.

After the submission is complete, a confirmation screen appears with a Grants.gov tracking number (at the bottom of the screen) as well as the official date and time of the submission. Record this tracking number so you can refer to it if you need to contact Grants.gov or give it to your congressional officials for tracking your grant application after submission.

Track the status of your submitted grant application package.

After submitting your grant application, you can check the status by clicking the Track my Application link under the APPLICANTS tab on the Grants.gov homepage. From there, enter your application’s tracking number.

Your application status can be marked as any of the following:

Received: Grants.gov has received the application but not yet validated it.

Validated: Grants.gov has validated the application, which is now available for the agency to download.

Received by the agency: The funding agency has confirmed receipt of the application package.

Agency tracking number assigned: The funding agency has assigned the application an internal tracking number. (However, keep in mind that not all agencies assign tracking numbers.)

Rejected with errors: Because of errors, Grants.gov can’t process your application. You’ll receive information by e-mail on how to address the errors and resubmit the application.

You also get e-mail updates from Grants.gov as the status of your application changes.